2008 Honda Accord Test Drive (with Video): Mainstream Muscle

Honda's relentless evolution of the Accord continues with the introduction of the new eighth generation for the 2008 model year. No surprise here: Just as Honda has done with each previous generation, it's made the new Accord bigger, better and more powerful than the one preceding it. And as Accord buyers have long expected and demanded, it once again delivers a sweet-natured drive in a package built like a solid granite mountain range. This may be a new Accord, but in its soul it's very much like all previous Accords. (Check it out in action with this video; review continues below...)

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The Accord four-door sedan's wheelbase grows 2.3 in. and length stretches 3.0 in.—and that's enough, says the Environmental Protection Agency, to push the Accord sedan up a size class to "large" (the two-door coupe remains a "compact"). The new interior is as clean and logical as the all-new exterior, and every surface and every part is, as expected, perfectly assembled and high quality. There's nothing startling about how accommodating the new Accord is—it's roomier and feels it—and nothing disappointing.

What is shocking is how much better the new Accord drives even in its cheapest form. The bottom-of-the-range sedan comes powered by a 177-hp 2.4-liter DOHC, 16-valve Four—up 11 hp over the 2007 model. But that low-level Accord is more likely to show up in newspaper teaser ads than on actual roads; most will come with a 190-hp (at a walloping 7000 rpm) version of the same engine that features an active noise-canceling exhaust system and active motor mounts to smooth out any vibration. Both Fours are hooked to manual or automatic five-speeds, and Honda predicts EPA mileage numbers of 21/31 mpg city/highway for automatic four-cylinder cars—simply excellent fuel economy for a car this size.

For many buyers, the 190-hp Four's silken operation and seamless power delivery will mean a V6 is beside the point. Still, some Accord-ians want V6 power. And the V6 Accord they'll get now displaces 3.5 liters and whacks out a robust 268 hp, making it the most powerful Honda-branded product sold in America that doesn't have wings and two jet engines. But beyond that power, the V6, when equipped with the automatic transmission, uses Honda's latest variable cylinder management system, which allows the engine to operate in three-, four- or six-cylinder modes, depending on conditions. It is the first time this system has been used on a nonhybrid application and helps the V6 sedan return an excellent 19/29 mpg city/highway, according to the EPA's 2008 ratings regimen.

The basic elements of the Accord's front-drive chassis return—including its signature four-wheel, double-wishbone, all-independent suspension—but the inherent goodness has been amplified in this generation: The track is wider, the engine and fuel tank are mounted down low to drop the center of gravity, and the steering has been redesigned for heightened responsiveness. The V6 coupe (the only model available with a six-speed manual transmission), fitted with large and sticky 235/45R18 tires, particularly benefits from the new mechanical variable gear ratio rack-and-pinion steering system that requires just 2.56 turns lock-to-lock, versus 2.98 in the old model. Honda also resisted the temptation to install electric power steering, which is notorious for deadening feel more effectively than a quart of topically applied Novocain.

On the safety front, all Accords get four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, stability control, tire pressure monitoring systems and enough airbags to cushion the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. The dual-chamber, side-impact airbags come standard in the front seats and provide a unique new safety breakthrough. As the name implies, the airbag has two separate chambers, one for the pelvis area and one for the torso. Honda claims this new design is very effective in minimizing the potential for injuries caused by large SUVs and pickups. Well, not all large SUVs and pickups, but those that collide with 2008 Honda Accords.

With more than four times the horsepower on board as the original, 68-hp 1976 Accord, 2008 V6 models could be the first Accords that genuinely qualify as muscle cars. Of course, the '08 Accord is excellent. But muscle-bound? That's something truly new. —John Pearley Huffman